


Paint the House

by allysonandrews1982 (FonzFan82)



Series: Jailhouse Rock [2]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2017-12-27 05:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/975049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FonzFan82/pseuds/allysonandrews1982
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott and Alan paint the house.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is an odd idea for a story but I had to write it out. I'd like to thank a friend of mine for giving me the idea.

Late at night, Scott Presley was up browsing the Net. He was doing a bit of research to help his older brother, Alan with more lesson plans for Alan’s English class. Alan, Scott’s older brother, had looks exactly like a relative on their father’s side of the family, the famous Elvis Presley. He and Alan had always been teased since Alan was another mirror of Elvis.

After writing down the lesson plans for Alan, Scott printed a list of a reading list he thought Alan’s class would like. Alan taught English at Jefferson High School. Alan hadn’t been there for two years yet. He did enjoy teaching at the high school, though. He and Alan had an agreement that he would help Alan with lesson plans and subsitute when Alan couldn’t be there.

It was past ten – thirty when Scott shut the computer off for the night. Alan’s light in his bedroom on the second floor was already off, so he planned on giving the list to Alan the next morning.

On his way to his bedroom that night, Scott turned the bathroom light on. He was feeling tired, but he really wanted to take a quick bath before he got under the covers. The bathroom was small, with a white sink, bathtub and toilet. The mirror on the wall by the sink was scratched up, and also was ready to be replaced because of its age.

Scott tore off his royal blue stretch pants he had recently bought. Like his older T – shirts, this new one had buttons. Buttoned shirts had always been his favorites for some reason. After tearing off his black jeans and white socks off, he turned the water on. It felt great to be clean again, he thought to himself as he rubbed soap all over himself.

After turning the water off, Scott grabbed for his dark red towel to dry off. Next he put his pajamas on. It was late autumn and winter was on its way. Right now that night was in the early forties. After buttoning his tan and black pajama shirt, he went to brush his teeth. After that, he turned the light off in his medium – sized bedroom. The bedroom was about to be repainted but the rest of the room was okay.

He’d worry about hiring a painter to repaint his bedroom and some other rooms that needed work. The next morning, which was Tuesday, Alan was the first to wake up. He got up around six A.M., undressed and put on some fresh clothes: a lime green top shirt without buttons, pants to match the shirt and also white Nikes and socks to match the shoes.

After brushing his hair and teeth, he headed for the kitchen. Even he noticed the kitchen could use a real paint job. He was sure his brother would call somebody. Scott walked into the kitchen just then.

“Morning, bro,” Alan greeted his younger brother.

“Morning. Alan, I got the reading list for you. I’ll get it after we’re through,” Scott told him.

“Thanks. I was hoping to give the class a new list today,” Alan said, wiping some milk off his mouth.

The brothers ate in silence the rest of the meal. Their adoptive parents, Mary and George Tompson had him and Alan ever since they were five and ten years of age and both were very strict.

Mary and George thought it made sense to let the boys have one meal per day. Alan and Scott never liked it but are used to it. After chewing the last of Rice Krispies, Scott got up from the kitchen table to grab the reading list he thought would be good. Scott came back within a few seconds.

“What do you make of this?” Scott asked, handing Alan the list.

Alan studied the list.

“The Adventure of Tom Swayer, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist,” Alan read.

He didn’t bother mentioning all the titles Scott wrote down. 

“The list looks good, bro. I’ll have the kids decide what book they want to do a report on,” Alan suggested.

“I like the idea. Isn’t it time you think about heading to school?” Scott asked.

Alan took a look at the grandfather clock: 7:01.

“I guess you’re right. See you tonight. Thanks again for the list,” Alan said, getting out of his chair in a rush.

“See you tonight then. I’ll call a painter and see what he can do about making the house look new again. While I’m doing that, we can get a new bathroom mirror. It’s on its last legs, you know,” Scott told Alan.

“Good idea. I’ll see you tonight for sure,” Alan said, grabbing his briefcase and car keys and was out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Once Alan had left, Scott decided to get a hold of a painter and Alan had agreed if Scott couldn't find anyone to paint their house, he and Alan would do the entire house themselves. Once stores opened up at nine, Scott thought he'd wait an hour or so to call somebody he thought who'd like to help.

An hour or two passed. Alan didn't have break until lunchtime. He'd call Alan at that time and see if Alan would agree on whoever Scott liked. Scott thought it was a good idea to wait till then. Sometimes Alan would work late so Scott thought he'd play safe and not bothering to tell Alan when he first came home for the night.

Lunch was at noon, so Alan had about thirty minutes of lunch. Scott dialed a painter he had heard about from a girl who checked his books out for him. She had suggested he try this one man who kept in touch with named Christopher. She'd given him Christopher's number. He got out Christopher's number Carla had given him and made the call.

Scott got no answer. He left a message for Chris to call him back. After that, he hung up. He sure hoped to get back, but if he didn't, that meant the answer would be a no. Scott decided to call Carla at the library. He didn't know if she was on break or not yet, so he took the risk. She wasn't, so he left a message on her cell to call him back.


	3. Chapter 3

While Alan was busy teaching that day, Scott called the bank, asking for some money to repaint the house. The bank teller said okay but Scott explained the money had nothing to do with refurnishing the entire place, but he wanted to play safe in case Christopher's fee involved a lot of money. Scott drove to the bank to collect the money. He decided to take out a little over four hundred bucks.

After driving away from the bank's drive - thru, Scott immediately parked the car in the driveway. The telephone was ringing when he walked in. He and Alan never had an answering machine so the phone managed to continue ringing until he or Alan would pick up the phone. Scott heard the painter's voice.

Scott was happy to hear Christopher decided to return his phone call.

"Is this the Presley residence?" Scott heard a young man's soft voice ask.

"Yes, it is. I am the one who called you. I am Scott Presley," Scott introduced himself.

"The girl from the public library recommended you and mentioned you were a painter. I got your telephone number from her so I decided to give you a chance."

"Which girl was that recommended me? Yes, it's true I am a painter, but I only do it for a part - time job," Chris replied.

"I was afraid I had to call for somebody else to do the job if you never called back. My brother and I agreed the house needed a little work since it's been a while since it's last paint job. Some of the rooms need a lot of work since their color is almost gone and the roof needs some work as well," Scott explained.

"I'll see what I can do for you, Mr. Presley. My fee depends on how much you want to be done. White usually is about sixty - five to eighty dollars while colors are close to two hundred."

Scott sighed silently to himself he was happy to play it safe to cash out extra money depending how much Chris wanted to be paid.

Chris didn't bother asking who recommended him to paint the house, but it was no big deal.

"When can you start?" Scott asked.

"When are you open for me?" Chris asked.

"My brother isn't available to help watch you and agree to what colors you'd be happy to paint, but my schedule is pretty much open. Can you start tomorrow?" Scott asked.

"I'm afraid I'm tied up so how about I start the day after tomorrow?"

"That'll be great, Chris. See you after eight."

"All right," Chris said as Scott gave him the address and put the phone down. Scott would tell Alan later.


	4. Chapter 4

That night, Scott told Alan about his phone call with Chris.

“He said he’s available to work for us. Now we need to decide what colors we want to use.”

“Good point, bro. We can come and think of something,” Alan told him.

“What we do know the outside of the house stays the same.”

Alan agreed.

“I thought of painting my room blue and yellow,” he told Scott.

“I think I want mine green,” Scott said.

“Does the rest of the place need work?” Alan asked his younger brother.

“I would think so. Why not repaint the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms the same, but could use a fresh look.”

“Good idea, Scott. We keep the bathroom and kitchen the same. Should we repaint the rest of this place?” Alan asked.

“I think they could use a nice change. Why don’t we repaint the upstairs walls red?”

“I like it. Maybe we can do this – how about one room would be blue and another red?”

Scott liked the idea and thought it was a great suggestion.

“We could do that, Alan. I would never have thought of that.”

“Okay, it’s settled, then. When does the painter arrive?” Alan asked his younger brother.

“I think he said sometime after you are in school, so probably shortly after eight.”

“I would be in school, all right. You can tell me how he did.”

“I plan to do that, Alan.”

Scott decided to change the subject.

“What do your students think of the reading assignment I recommended?” 

“I think they really didn’t give much thought. We’ll be reading one of them,” Alan answered.

“What are you reading for now?” Scott asked with curiosity. 

“We recently just started ‘A Wrinkle in Time.’ I think I’ll make the class do a book report when we’re through with the book so I’ll see what each of them think.”

“Great idea,” Scott agreed.

“Who did you hire to paint our house?”

“One of the girls I keep in touch with at the library recommended our painter. She happens to be a friend of the painter. Said his name was Christopher.”

“Hey, that’s my middle name!” Alan exclaimed, but never really cared what other people thought of the name.

“I know,” Scott agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, shortly after Alan drove away from the house, Christopher drove up in the next fifteen minutes.

“Are you Scott Presley?” Christopher asked.

Scott guessed Christopher was in his early to mid twenties or thirties, but he did notice Christopher had braces on. He looked like he recently had gotten contacts, but Scott found that hard to tell.

Today Christopher was wearing old, ragged and beat up paint clothes. The shirt looked like it had several colors all at once: turquoise, royal blue, ruby red, light orange, black, white, pink orange, pink, yellow and gray. The pants had lime green, gold, purple, and Christmas green. Scott didn’t say anything about the mess of paint on his work clothes.

“What is it you would like me to use?” Chris asked.

“My brother and I talked about what we want done on the house is we want to keep the outside of the house the same, but could take a fresh look with the same color it has now. My brother wants some of his bedroom repainted. We agree on what to do with the house,” Scott told him.

“Just letting you know I can only do one room at a time. Like I told you before the rate for colors is sixty – five to eighty bucks.”

“Gotcha. My brother and I got to talking the other night. He was thinking to repaint his bedroom yellow and blue. I’d like to have mine with green by itself.”

“Fair enough. What about the rest of this place?”

“The restrooms and kitchen will stay the same but like the outside of this house could use a fresh look. We thought of painting every room red and blue. It’s just alternating rooms for those colors. One room will be red and the next one blue, and so on.”

“All right, Mr. Presley. I’ll get to it immediately. I’m going to do the outside of this house first. I’ll get started in a minute.”

“Sounds good, Chris. The girl at the library who recommended you was the name of Carla Sanchez.”

“She’s a good friend of mine, all right. When you see her again, tell her I said hello.”

“Okay. I’m going to be gone for a while. If you have questions, call me on the cell.”

“I will.”

Scott had his library books piled on the passenger’s seat. Recently he and Alan bought a second car so Scott wouldn’t have to keep paying for bus rates. The car was a 2011 Sedan. They bought the car used. They didn’t have enough to pay for an entirely brand – new vehicle just for him. The car he and Alan just bought was in very good condition.

He had about three to five paperback and hardcover novels sitting and ready to be returned. He never had been much into fiction, but he would read it every once in a while.

He arrived to the public library before nine o’clock. He saw the library looked like it just opened for today. The books he checked out were all historical fiction. He’d mostly been a fan of history and kept up – to – date.

Once he entered the library, Carla had just walked in.

“Hi, Carla,” he greeted her.

Carla looked in his direction.

“Good morning, Scott. Have you been able to get a hold of Chris?” Carla asked.

“He’s at my house right now.”

“He’s pretty nice, but when it comes to work, he’s pretty professional.”

“Sounds like it. He was all business when I talked with him.”

“That’s the Christopher I know,” she said as she helped Scott carry his books.

Just then, Carla decided to change the subject, which was fine with him.

“Would you like to have lunch sometime?”

“I accept the invite, Carla. Where and when are we going?” he asked.

“Today could work.”

“Great,” he said.

“I forgot to tell you. I have a boyfriend, but he’s out on tour. He recently came out with a new CD. It’s supposed to be his hottest right now.”

“If you have a boyfriend, Carla, I’ve got no reason to butt in your personal relationship. I don’t want to make him jealous if he found out I was with you.”

“I understand, Scott. I promise I won’t mention to him I was with you today.”

“I’ll still go if he never finds out.”

“Do you want to eat at noon? That’s when I have my lunch hour.”

“Sure, Carla. Where do you want to go?”

“Diary Queen?”

“All right. See you then.”


	6. Chapter 6

That night, Alan came home for supper. He didn’t have any kids to make up for schoolwork that night so he was happy to go home immediately for a change. Alan had come back to the house after school had ended. He was a bit exhausted when he walked in. Alan didn’t seem to pay attention to the newly fresh paint that was added on the outside of the front of the house, but did think he thought he smelled something that smelled like paint. Alan felt he wanted to throw up since the paint’s smell was so strong.

Scott was in the living room, watching one of their favorite television shows, Seinfield. Alan covered his younger brother’s eyes.

“Come on! I can’t see if my eyes are covered.”

Alan often did this time to time, just for laughs.

“Did I scare you?” Alan asked, starting to giggle.

“Not that funny, Alan. You always do this when I’m trying to watch television.”

“And I chose the right time, too. Is it just me or am I dreaming I smell paint?” Alan asked, his nose acting up.

He knew it wasn’t allergies. He thought the new paint job had something to it.

“Oh. I see you noticed our painter got started this morning. He was highly recommended by someone I keep in touch with,” Scott said, turning the television set off since the credits just started opening on the screen.

Alan watched as his brother put the now old white clicker on the coffee table. The coffee table sure looked a lot better now than it did before. Before it was sparkling clean, it was a scattered mess: books, magazines, newspapers, mail, television guides.

The coffee table did look like it was on its last legs, Alan noticed.

“Why are you home so early today? It’s not a half – day or anything like that, you know,” Scott reminded him.

“Of course it wasn’t half – day. I came home early because there weren’t any students to make up for a test or whatever, so here I am. How did the painter do?” Alan asked.

“So far, so good. Christopher, our painter, told me he’s going to do one room at a time but he wanted to do the outside first before he does the inside. I told him we wanted to keep the look outside the house the same color as it was before. I did notice the house needed a good fix – up since this place started fading.”

“I understand. It would be nice to have the house with a fresh look,” Alan agreed.

“I’m happy my friend recommended him to us. She said she’d been friends with him for some time now,” he informed Alan.

“Who recommended him?” Alan asked with interest.

“Do you know the black gal who checks people out? She’s the one who dyes her hair all the time.”

“I think I’ve seen her around. I don’t think I’ve met her,” Alan told Scott.

“I think you’ll like her. She’s pretty nice. Her name is Carla. We agreed to go out one of these days, but did tell me she has a boyfriend.”

“Well, that sucks. You need somebody soon,” Alan replied.

“I know it suck. She’s already taken. We’re just going as friends as long he finds out I was with her,” Scott told him.

“Makes a lot of sense to me. I’d like to meet her sometime,” Alan remarked.

“Come to the library with me someday when you’re not teaching and I’ll introduce you.”

“Sounds good. So is this Carla person work on weekends?” Alan asked.

“She only works nine to five Monday – Fridays.”

“Oh.”

Alan said no more. He felt he should take a quick nap before supper.

“I’m going to my room, Scott. I’d like to take a nap for awhile. I’m tried,” Alan said.

“I’d take a nap myself if I had your job full – time. See you at supper,” he said, watching as his older brother headed up the stairs.

Scott thought now was a good time to check facebook for a while. He wanted to see if Carla accepted his friend request.

So he logged into his account with using his hotmail account.

He didn’t pay any attention to the notifications or his private messages just yet. He went through all the updates first. He typed in ‘Seinfield’ and had a couple hits: ‘like Jerry Sienfield.’ He saw the page had told him Seinfield was a television actor. Scott quickly tapped the like button even without paying attention to the updates. That wasn’t his style.

He next added the ‘watched TV shows.’ He clicked from the ‘want to watch’ to watched. Without opening his notifications, he checked recent activity instead. He saw: Scott is now friends with Carla Sanchez. He’d liked Carla well enough to have a friendship with, but he’d never met her friends and family.

He went through his private messages next. He saw one from Carla, all right. He’s enjoyed meeting her since they met for the first time. For now, he was not enough interested to start dating quite yet.

He saw Carla was on at that moment and he typed a message saying: ‘Thank you for adding me.’ Carla saw his message and replied back, ‘You’re welcome, Scott.’ She saw his profile picture had him in a dark red medium – sized T – shirt, hair neatly cut while the background looked like he was at the beach. She couldn’t tell what year or date his picture had been taken. He’d changed his profile picture in June. She saw Alan in standing right next to him, acting a bit immature by adding bunny ears on Scott’s head. She couldn’t tell if Alan was a relative or a friend but she’d ask when she brought it up next time. She did notice something familiar about Alan – his looks were exactly like Elvis Presely’s! 

“What! I thought there was one and only Elvis Presley that had that kind of look,” Carla said to herself.

She couldn’t think it wasn’t true Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll had somebody that looked like him a lot. It was not making any sense to Carla that there was a second – look a like Elvis Presely. She gasped loud enough so her cousin, Marlene and her boyfriend, Gunnar would come running in to see what the problem was.

She was wrong – Gunnar was out on tour so it was impossible to hear him running to her side. Marlene was in the living room, cleaning the coffee table. Marlene put the spray bottle on the table and rushed into the office where Carla was sitting in front of their Gateway computer.

“What is it, Coz?” Marlene asked.

“Sorry I screamed loud enough for you to hear, Marlene. I accepted a request from a new friend and you should see his profile picture.”

“Did you say ‘he?’ I thought Gunnar was your boyfriend,” Marlene said.

Marlene had been boy – crazy all her thirty – nine years. She thought teenage years were the good – looking ones for some reason. She was surprised to hear Carla added another male to friends list. That was when it interested her.

“Have I met this hottie?” Marlene asked.

“I don’t think you have. He’s been living here in town for a year or so. He comes to the library often to check out books. We’ve agreed to do lunch.”

“Can I come along?” Marlene asked, wanting to see who Scott was.

“I don’t think you have. He’s been living here in town for a year or so. He comes to the library often to check out books. We’ve agreed to do lunch.”

“Can I come along?” Marlene asked, wanting to see who Scott was.

“I don’t think so. We scheduled it for two.”

“Drat!” Marlene said, disappointed.

“Sorry, Coz,” Carla said apologetically. 

She would introduce her to Scott one day but now was not the right time to do so. She wanted to get to know Scott a bit better since they never hung around much so she thought going out to lunch was a good idea to get to know each other better. She really hoped he wouldn’t find out anytime soon. She watched as Marlene left. Carla never knew Scott had family or anything but she was going to find out.


	7. Chapter 7

Scott woke up bright and early the next day. He got out of bed, threw the blankets off, stretched and yawned. He always did a few exercises since he’d been stiff overnight. He heard a knock. He finished his stretching exercises once he heard his brother knock on the door. Scott was still stretching his arms as he welcomed Alan into his bedroom.

“Morning, bro. What were you doing?” Alan asked, since he noticed Scott was waving his hands back and forth.

“Just stretching, Alan. I usually get stiff overnight since I sleep like a rock.”

“I know the feeling, Scott. I get like that every once in a while myself.”

Alan saw Scott had made a mess since he threw the blankets off.

“Want me to help with the bed?” Alan asked.

“No thank you, Alan. I’m going to wash them later this morning.”

“Okay. I just got the coffee started.”

“Good idea, Alan. I could go for a glass or two,” Scott agreed as the two brothers walked down to the kitchen.

The kitchen looked like it needed big – time scrubbing, the two noticed.

There were several cups, dishes and pots and pans. It’s pretty easy to be messy if you’re a bachelor and have no one to clean up after you. The dishes looked like they were going to break since they had been stacked up pretty well.

“I’ll get started on the dishes today if I’m lucky. I have a lunch date with the gal at the library, Carla at noon.”

“Have fun. It looks like you’ve been going to the library a lot since we moved here a year ago. I haven’t been to the library yet to get a new library card.”

“No hurry to do that, you know. I could get it for you if you want me to.”

“That’s very kind of you, Scott, but you really don’t have to go through all this trouble just for me. You’ve done enough for both of us already, and now you’re going to pay for the painting job.”

“Don’t complain, Alan. I know you do your part by going to work daily. I understand you have a lot to do, anyway,” Scott told him as he poured a cup of coffee for themselves.

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask you something. I think it’s time to update the fanfic I recently started.”

 

“Give it to me and I’ll find time to upload. What do we have for chapter five?” Scott asked with curiosity.

“Adam and Eve are starting to listen to God since they both sinned a lot. Adam is pretty stubborn from all the things he didn’t do God told him. And Eve is kidnapped by Satan.”

“Ooh, sounds a little bit scary. I can’t wait to see it.”

“I know you can’t. It also has a cliffhanger, so readers will want me to keep on going.”

“What do you want the chapter title?”

“Uh, I think it will be titled ‘The sin and kidnap.’”

“I will try to thank my readers for reading, reviewing and stuff like that like I normally do, so leave that option open for me,” Alan said as he gave a big gulp from what he had left.

He gulped and belched loud enough.

“Excuse me. I know that was rude, but I didn’t realize I have to get going to school. We are having an assembly this morning.”

“I always enjoyed those. Brings back memories,” Scott replied.

“I still enjoy them. I’m not certain what this one would be about. I’ll tell you about it tonight.”

“Sounds good to me.”

After Alan left eight and a half minutes ago, the weather was picking up a little. Scott also enjoyed going on walks, hikes, and biking, and so did Alan. Five minutes later, he found Chris standing on his doorstep, ringing the doorbell. The doorbell sounded loud enough for the whole household to hear.

“Morning, Chris. Just on time. I’ve got a lot to do today, so you can get a lot done today.”

“Thank you for understanding, Mr. Presley. I need to tell you I won’t be here all day. I have to stay here for just this morning. I have to visit the doctor and dentist after lunch.”

“I hope there’s nothing serious,” Scott said after inviting Chris in.

He usually shared coffee with Chris every morning.

Just like his brother, Chris usually worked at his best after drinking his coffee since it helps you focus on your job a bit faster. After Christopher finished his glass, he headed outside again after thanking Scott for the caffeine. 

“Be happy to,” Scott replied.

After Christopher loudly slammed the door, Scott saw that he needed to get started on his chores for today.

It was only Thursday, and the leaves looked like they were starting to fade away. As Christopher grabbed the buckets of paint from his truck, he began to pain the area he left off from yesterday. Scott gave a sigh of relief as he turned the sink on. The water looked like it was low on water. It wasn’t like that the night before.

He thought it wasn’t that serious enough to hire a plumber. He put the sink chore down for now until the water turned back to normal. While that chore was on hold, Scott thought it was time to vacumm again. He usually vaccumed every two to three weeks.

After finishing with the vaccum cleaner and putting it back in the closet, Scott read the time: 9:17. Scott sure couldn’t believe how fast time had passed since Alan left for Jefferson High School. Ever since Alan got the job at the high school exactly one year ago, teachers, students and parents had liked him since.

After vaccuming the house, Scott paced to his bedroom to wash his bedding and other little things. After throwing his bedding on the now neat carpet, the carpet no longer looked like it was vaccumed. He decided this time he would not blame himself. After carrying two trips of dirty laundry, he neatly put the dirty clothes and bedding in the washer and it started to run.

He thought he’d wait another hour or two to catch a bus to meet Carla at Diary Queen but it would give her some time to meet him there. Like himself, Carla usually took the bus since she and Marlene didn’t bother owning a car and Marlene always drove a motorcycle.

He left to catch a bus around eleven. He waved to Christopher after locking both front and back doors. Christopher waved back to Scott since he was now on the ladder. Scott saw how tall the ladder was. He always thought it made sense to catch a bus early enough to get a seat before the bus was filled up.

He got on the bus to find out almost all the seats filled up. He made it to Diary Queen within twenty to thirty minutes later. After hopping off the bus after paying the driver five dollars, he walked into the place. He found out Carla already got there ten minutes ago.

“Sorry if I kept you waiting, Carla. Have I kept you waiting for long?” he asked.

“Not at all. I’m treating.”

“You really don’t have to do that, Carla,” Scott told her politely after taking a seat in front of her.

Today Carla was wearing blue jeans, pearl hoop earrings, black shoes and socks, and a hot pink T – shirt. The shirt today was a theme in the desert since it had a cactus or two.

“I like your shirt, Carla. Is that shirt new?” he asked.

“No.”

“It looks new.”

“I know it does. It’s one hundred percent cotton, but you have to wash it by hand,” she told him.

Scott noticed she was wearing perfume.

“I like your perfume. What is its name?” Scott asked.

“Never heard of it.”

“Now you have.”

They both stood up from the table and decided to order. The line wasn’t very long yet. Both friends saw that they were fourth in line.

“I think I’ll have a couple hot dogs this time. I don’t have much time to spare.”

“I’ve got plenty of time.”

“I know you do. It’s because you don’t have a job to go to,” she told him.

“That’s right. My older brother is a teacher, so he keeps himself busy.”

That’s when he thought of something. After they took their trays, Carla paid like she said she would. Scott politely thanked her as they put their shakes and hot dogs and French friends on the table.

“I almost forgot, Carla. Since my brother, Alan, hasn’t been to the library yet, he wanted me to ask you if I could give him a library card.”

“I’m sorry, Scott, but I’m afraid he’ll have to come in for himself. That’s how it’s always done.”

“I understand, but that’s what he wanted to ask you.”

“Tell him he has to do it.”

“Will do.”

After finishing, Carla stood up to throw her tray away. She had to throw away the half – finished vanilla milkshake.

“Aren’t you going to finish that?” he asked, taking a few more sips of his strawberry milkshake.

“Can’t. I have to go back to work. I’ll see you again next time.”

“I will come in soon. I had fun.”

“So did I,” she returned after he followed her outside.

“I should be heading home myself. I have so much to catch up on.”

“I understand. I get that way myself a lot.”

They both then went their separate ways.


	8. Chapter 8

After returning from his luncheon with Carla, Scott did notice Christopher had already left for the day. Scott did see Christopher finished with the front of the house, so he wasn’t sure what Christopher had in mind for tomorrow. Scott went on facebook and posted on Carla’s timeline: ‘Carla, thanks for taking the time to do lunch with me. I did have fun with you and I was happy to spend more time with you than just at the library.’ Scott

He knew Carla would like this post he’d shared with her, but didn’t give any thoughts if she would click ‘Like’ but he’d just have to wait and see. Playing games on facebook was neither his or Alan’s style. Neither had the time to play since they were so busy. Scott still didn’t get Alan’s latest update, but he knew for sure there was no hurry.

Scott did see his older brother’s profile page on fanfiction. Alan, like most members on the site, usually wrote one story at a time and stick with what section of the site they write in. So far, after joining in 2006, Alan had over two hundred fanfiction stories and had been successful ever since.

Once again, Alan came home early.

“Hi,” the two brothers greeted each other.

Scott saw the time: 3:40.

“What are you doing home so early?” Scott asked once they said hello.

Scott saw his brother’s eyes looked red and itchy.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Alan gave a loud sneeze.

“For time being, no. I guess I’ll hit the sack early tonight.”

“Good idea,” Scott agreed.

“Achoo!” Alan sneezed a second time.

“Bless you,” Scott said.

“Thanks. How did it go with the painter today?” Alan asked as he put his briefcase on the floor by the front door.

“So far, so good. Chris didn’t stay all day like he normally did, so he took off this afternoon. I checked the front of our house when I came back from my lunch date with Carla. Looks like he might do the back part tomorrow,” Scott replied.

Alan didn’t say anything, so he kept on sneezing.

“I think I’ll head upstairs. I don’t want you getting sick either.”

“That’s all right.”

He watched as Alan headed slowly up the stairs with his briefcase. Alan looked like he was needing to throw the briefcase into the dumpster since the bag looked like it was on its last legs.

Of course, Alan was the first – born of the two brothers and also played the role of both brother and father to him. Somehow Alan seemed pretty protective to Scott but wasn’t as strict as some parents were.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, Alan didn’t bother going to work that day. He wasn’t feeling so hot, so he had asked Scott if he would mind taking over. It was now allergy season, but ever since he came home from work last night, he felt miserable. No wonder he hit the pillows early last night. He wasn’t sure what the matter was with him, but whatever it was, he didn’t want Scott to get it too.

Once Scott left that morning, Christopher pulled into the driveway.

“Hi, Chris. Help yourself to a pot of coffee. I won’t be around today, but my brother happens to be here, so I’d appreciate it he won’t be disturbed.”

“Gotcha.”

Scott drove the car away from the neighborhood. It felt good not to take the bus for a change today, Scott thought to himself with a smile on his face.

It wasn’t often he got a chance to drive their car since Alan needed it while he was in school. Alan was under his covers most of the day, except he got up several times to blow his nose. Alan really hoped he wouldn’t get allergies, but today his eyes looked like they were red and itchy.

He did know those were a couple signs of allergy symptoms. He wasn’t showing any sign of hives, which he was happy about. He heard Christopher on the roof not too far away from his own bed, so it was impossible to have any rest, but his bedroom held a television set. Scott’s room wasn’t big as his own bedroom enough to hold a TV set.

Alan mostly used the television set in his room for distraction while he worked on his job at Jefferson and his fanfiction stories. Most of the time he wrote his stories in silence often since peace helped him focus what to do with his writing. Since he couldn’t get any rest with the racket Christopher was making outside, the only thing Alan could do was work on his story.

Like many religious people, he and Scott often went to church every Sunday. The two brothers read the Bible a lot. Since he wasn’t at work today, Alan pulled out his King James Bible and flipped to Luke. He really never read the Bible from beginning to the end, but he mostly flipped to whatever he could find.

Today was a down day for him. He’d spent most of this morning writing the next chapter, which looked like it was about 3,167 words. He really didn’t have any word count limit. Today he was reading the gospel of Luke. This is what he was reading:

Luke chapter two, verses 1 – 52. 

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his financee, who was pregnant.  
While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

There was sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior had just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,

Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, , and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everybody they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.  
Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’ve been told!

When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived.  
Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law: “Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God,” and also to sacrifice the “pair of doves or two young pigeons” prescribed in God’s Law.  
In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Isarel. And the Holy Spirit, he entered the Temple.  
As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:

God, you can now release your servant,;  
Release me in peace as you promised.  
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;  
It’s now out in the open for everyone to see:  
A God – revealing light to the non – Jewish nations,  
And of glory for your people Isarel.

Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words.  
Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,

This child marks both the failure and  
The recovery of many in Israel,  
A figure misunderstood and contradicted-  
The pain of sword thrust through you-  
But the rejection will force honesty,  
As God reveals who they really are.

Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty – four. She never left the Temple area,  
Worshipping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Siemon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, 

And talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.  
When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galiliee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.

Every year Jesus’ parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover.  
When he was twelve years old, they went up as they always did for the Feast.  
When it was over and they left for home, the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t know it. Thinking he was somewhere in the company of pilgrims, they journeyed for a whole day and then began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When they didn’t find him,  
They went back to Jerusalem looking for him.  
The next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed; they were upset and hurt.  
His mother said, “Young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you.”  
He said, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?” But they had no idea what he was talking about.  
So he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people.

When Scott walked in to the front door, he saw Alan in his robe. Alan was standing at the oven, making soup for his supper for tonight. Scott could see Alan didn’t look any better now than he did this morning.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to do that for you?” Scott asked.

Alan turned his head over his shoulder, seeing his younger brother standing there.

Alan jumped, startled, not noticing Scott had just arrived home.

“You startled me, Scott. I think I’m almost finished, but thank you for offering,” he said in a sick voice.

Scott did notice Alan’s eyes looked like they were red and itchy. Even his nose looked runny and sore.

“Are you sure you feel up to cooking? You look miserable,” Scott told him.

Ever since he went to teach Alan’s students this morning, Alan did not look any better since.

“Allergy season is here, Scott. I’m not sure what to think: cold or allergy.”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Scott replied.

Scott could see Alan’s voice sounded a bit raspy.

“How did Christopher do today?” Scott asked, watching Alan pour the soup in a bowl.

“He started painting by my bedroom with the ladder. I could barely rest if he’s going to make that racket.”

“Sorry you didn’t sleep well, bro. Your class wanted to know why they didn’t see you, so I explained you weren’t feeling so hot.”

“You better believe it,” Alan said, covering his mouth since he coughed a couple times.

“I’ll take over for you as long as you need to get rest.”

“Thanks for understanding. Since I hardly got any rest today, I spent all morning writing and rewriting so the chapter is worth enjoyment reading.”

“Okay. I’ll upload this weekend.

“All right. Maybe the next couple days I will work on more of it.”

Alan usually rewrote about five times on whatever story he was working on so it would flow better.

“Sounds good,” Scott said as he started making his own supper.

About ten minutes later, Alan walked slowly to his bedroom and shut the door and slept the night without any problems.


	10. Chapter 10

Alan was still in bed the next morning when Scott walked in. Alan didn’t want anything to eat, so all he had was juice for breakfast.

“How are the kids doing without me?” Alan asked.

“Just fine. They didn’t remember me since it’s been such a long time since I was there last.”

“I know. Don’t bother uploading my latest stuff on fanfiction, Scott. I can do it since I’m home right now from a cold, so I have time to do so while not at school.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“You’re welcome. I did about a few chapters yesterday and it looked like it needed a few more chapters before the end.”

“Take your time. I need to make a quick bowl of cereal and then I’m on my way.”

“Okay.”

“Leave the pot on for when Chris comes here to work on the house,” Scott instructed.

“Why do you share coffee with a person we don’t even know?” Alan asked, knowing he never would do such thing.

“Chris never has the time to have enough before going to work, so I offered to share our coffee with him.”

“Oh.”

That’s when Scott grabbed his things along with the car keys.

“If any of them get into trouble, you send them to the principal. I really can’t focus on that while I’m stuck here in bed at the house.”

“I’ve done that before, Alan. I know what to do. I’ll let you know tonight how everything turned out.”

“All right.”

Alan watched as Scott was out of the door. That’s when he heard Chris’s vehicle come into the driveway. Scott wasn’t very far from the driveway when he saw Chris drive up but he didn’t have the time to say good morning, so all he did was wave and was on his way. Chris was the way Scott described him. 

“Morning. Mr. Presley has mentioned you a few times,” Chris said, grabbing out a coffee mug and poured a half cup.

“Morning to you too. I happen to be Scott’s older brother,” Alan said, his nose sniffling.

“No wonder you’re not on the job today,” Chris said as he watched Alan’s nose get out of control. Chris handed him a Kleenex to blow it off.

“Thank you. I did need to blow it,” Alan said.

That’s when Alan finished the rest of his orange juice and waved to Christopher and headed back up the stairs to his bed. Alan stayed in bed most of the day since he kept getting up to use the bathroom and drinking water and juice. He still had another restless day of sleep since Christopher was busy with the ladder and paint. So he did what he did the day before – read his Bible and work on his story. He was in the middle of working on his story when Scott came home.

Alan still had no energy for food like he did that morning.

Scott knocked on Alan’s door and peeked in.

“I’m home now. Do you want anything for dinner?” Scott asked.

“Not hungry. I haven’t had anything all day.”

“That’s no good. You know you should eat when you’re sick and don’t have any energy. Remember Mom did that when you were sick once.”

That was true. This was time before he and Scott even moved here to Milwaukee.

Flashback:

Alan decided it was time to go to bed, so he said good – night to Scott and took a shower and read his Bible for twenty minutes and then turned the light out. Alan woke up again at 2:30 in the morning, not feeling so good. He got up from bed and headed for the bathroom.

He got to the bathroom okay, but when he got there he turned the light on in the bathroom. He saw the clock in his room read 2:30. He turned his light out in his bedroom, put his robe and slippers on and headed to the bathroom.

The bathroom door was open when Scott came over to see what happened.

“What’s going on in here, Alan?” Scott asked.

“I can’t go to my job this morning. I don’t feel good,” Alan told Scott.

“Maybe you caught something from those students of yours. We’ll call Mom later and have her take care of you. For now, go back to bed and I’ll be there in a minute to take your temperature,” Scott said.

Alan did as he was told and waited for his brother to come in. Alan’s temperature read 103 degrees.

“I will talk to June for you. I will take over your English class for you until you feel better,” Scott said.

Alan thanked Scott as he turned Alan’s light out and went back to bed.

Scott woke up again at 6:30 so he could get ready to sub for Alan. He looked in on Alan after getting dressed.

“How are you?” Scott asked him.

“Like I’m going to throw up,” Alan said.

“I’ll take your stuff with me. What do you want them to do?” Scott asked.

“I wrote it all down last night before going to sleep, so it’ll tell you,” Alan said.

“Okay. I’ll go call Mom now and tell her what happened last night. That should make her and Dad worry about something for a while,” Scott said, taking Alan’s things with him.

Scott picked up the phone and called their parents. Mr. Tompson answered the phone on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Dad. Is Mom awake yet? I need to talk to her,” Scott said.

“She’s putting her makeup on, so she’ll be out in a minute. How did it go with Susan and June last night?” Mr. Tompson asked.

“Fine. All we did was drive them home. June lives far away from Susan,” Scott said.

Mrs. Tompson got on the phone.

“Hello, Scott. Your father told me you called,” she said.

“The reason I’m calling is about Alan. Can you come over and take care of him? I know I can do it, but I already volunteered to take over his job for him. He was up at 2:30 this morning. I took his temperature and at that time it was 103 degrees,” Scott said.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. Let me have breakfast first, then I’ll come over. Where is Alan now?” she asked.

“In bed. I can stay until you come then I have to leave.”

Scott came back to the open bedroom.

“She’s on her way, Alan. May I have June’s phone number?” Scott asked.

“Right here on my desk,” Alan said.

“I’ll see you when I come home later, so I’ll say good – bye now,” Scott said.

Before he left Alan’s room, he and Alan said a quick prayer. Scott watched their mother park in the driveway. He let her in the apartment. He had the car keys in his hands.

“I’ll call later to see how Alan’s doing,” he told Mrs. Tompson.

“Okay. Is he still in bed?” she asked.

“Yes, he is.”

Scott called June on her cell phone on her fifteen – minute break at 10:00 that morning and told her about Alan.

“I’m sorry to hear about Alan. Tell him I hope he feels better soon,” June said.

“I will.”

He called home at lunch.

“How is Alan, Mom?” Scott asked.

“Your brother is asleep, but all he has is a virus, Scott,” Mrs. Tompson said.

“That’s too bad, Mom. You can go home now if you wish,” Scott said.

“I’m not leaving until you come home, then I’ll come again in the morning,” Mrs. Tompson said.

“Okay, Mom. I’ll see you when I get home,” he said as he hung up the phone.

School was over fast. Scott drove home after the bell rang. He parked the car in the driveway and locked the car. He said hello to their mother and gave her a kiss.

“How is Alan?” Scott asked her.

“The same as last night.”

“You can come over tomorrow at the same time as today, Mom,” Scott said.

“I will, but we will be calling every hour except bedtime tonight to check on Alan, starting at six tonight,” Mrs. Tompson told Scott.

“Okay. I know you have a right to worry about us when we get sick,” Scott said.

He said good – bye to their mother and headed to the phone and called Susan. She was home, so they talked about their first date for a while. When he and Susan were talking, he heard Alan wake up in the other room, calling for their mother.

“Would you hold for a minute, Susan? My brother’s calling,” Scott said.

He put the phone down and went to Alan’s room.

“I wanted Mom,” Alan told Scott.

“She’s home for the night, Alan. What do you need?” Scott asked.

He told Scott what he wanted, and Scott gave it to him and went back to his phone call. He and Susan talked for a couple more minutes, then got off the phone.

6:00 that evening finally arrived. Alan was in the bathroom when Mrs. Tompson called.

“How is Alan?” Mrs. Tompson asked.

“He’s in the bathroom now, Mom. You can call back later and see how he is,” Scott said.

“We don’t want two boys sick,” Mrs. Tompson told Scott.

They hung up.

When Alan got back into bed, Scott came in.

“Mom just called to see how you were feeling,” Scott said.

“The same,” Alan told his brother.

“I talked to June today. She said she hopes you feel better soon,” Scott said.

“That was nice of her,” Alan said.

“Yes, it is. Before I go to bed, I’m coming back in here and we’ll say a prayer. Okay?” he asked Alan.

“Okay.”

Scott left the bedroom.

7:00 arrived, and the phone rang for the second time.

“Hi, Mom,” Scott said.

“Hi, Scott. How is Alan? Is he in bed?” their mother asked.

“Yes, Alan’s in bed, Mom. Hold on while I see how he’s doing,” Scott said as he put the phone down.

He went to the open bedroom and found Alan sleeping.

Scott came back to the phone.

“He’s asleep, Mom,” Scott said.

“He should be asleep for the rest of the night. When he wakes up again, call me, no matter how late,” Mrs. Tompson said.

“Okay, Mom. I’ll do that,” Scott said and hung up.

He turned on the TV to a baseball game.

Scott watched TV until bedtime. He looked in on Alan, who was still sleeping, like his mother said. He stayed at the open bedroom and said a quick prayer, then went to bed. Before Scott got into bed to read his Bible for an hour, the phone rang. It was their mother, calling for the last time.

“How is Alan?” she asked.

“Still asleep. I’m about to go to bed myself,” he said.

“Good – night,” she said.

End Flashback

After looking back to the one time he was sick, it was always true he and Scott said prayers for whoever was sick, even if it was him.

Alan came down the stairs after Scott called him for supper.

“I’m still not hungry, but I did think of something.”

“What’s that?” Scott asked, getting interested in his brother’s theory.

“Remember that one time Mom came over when I had that virus?”

“I do. Why?”

“Just wanted to see if you remembered or not. I don’t think we’ve prayed at all for my cold.”

“You’re right. We’ve always done this, but I think it must be tradition,” Scott said.

“Guess so. We can do this when you go to bed.”

“Okay.”

Scott decided to go to bed around eight, since he had a quite a day in Alan’s room. ‘No wonder teaching wears you out,’ Scott thought silently to himself.

Eight o’clock arrived and Scott peeked into his brother’s room. Of course, Alan was already under the covers. So Scott did the honors by saying the prayer. During the prayer, Alan fell asleep. Then Scott got up from his knees and turned out Alan’s light as he closed the door.


	11. Chapter 11

A day or two passed. Christopher now was working on painting the guest room on the second floor. Little by little, Alan was starting to feel a lot better. It was all nothing but a cold, so it was good to know. He planned on going back the next day or two. Scott had taken his place in the past week or so.

Every night when Alan was in bed, Scott would join him before going off to bed to say a quick prayer. This had always helped when either one happened to be sick. This time, both brothers lived in a house. When they first moved here from Memphis, they lived in an apartment building. Just about a little over a year so, the landlord told them they needed somewhere else to live in because a couple college kids wanted the place.

This time, both brothers had to depend on one another to help care for the other when they got sick since their mother couldn’t travel whenever they needed her help. When they first moved in with Mr. and Mrs. Tompson, both George and Mary gave them this rule: eat one meal per day.

That afternoon, Alan was sitting on the couch in front of the television set when Christopher walked out of the guest room.

“I will be back tomorrow morning, same time,” Christopher said, “but I hope you wouldn’t mind if I leave the cans of paint in there.”

“No, not at all. Actually, this is the first time we’ve had a real house.”

“Really? I’ll be back in the morning, same time, same place.”

“Sounds good,” Alan said as he turned to watch Chris walk out. 

Every evening once Chris finished for the day, he and Scott would check the house to see how the house was coming along. So far, both brothers had liked what they had seen since day one when he started the job. Alan got up to stretch as Kelly Clarkson appeared on the screen. He was watching MTV. It had always been his favorite channel since he liked to see what the artists had done recently, and it also counted for the first – time singers. Kelly was singing a new song that just came out a couple of weeks ago.

It shouldn’t be too long until Scott came home for the night. Just a few days ago, Alan gave Scott this one instruction for the students to give them a test on the book he and the class had been reading. He usually did this on every novel and short story to see how much they had learned from the writer and the story.

A couple minutes later, Alan heard Scott park the car in the garage. Alan just came out of the guest room when Scott walked in.

“Hi, bro,” Scott greeted his older brother.

“Hi,” Alan said as he stepped out of the guest room.

“What were you doing in the guest room?” Scott questioned.

“I wanted to see how Christopher was coming along. It looks like the story is almost finished. Sorry, I meant to say house.”

“It feels like he just started,” Scott said in agreement.

“Want to check the guest room? It looks like he’s been following the instructions you gave him.”

“I can tell,” Scott agreed a second time.

Scott took a peek inside the guest room. Alan was right – he liked what the house’s fresh new look. He took a look at the carpet’s flooring. He noticed Chris left the paint cans behind. 

Scott turned to his older brother as he walked into the kitchen a second time to start supper. Cooking had always been Scott’s job since Alan had a job to go to. When Alan was here, his job would be paying the bills. Alan never seemed to mind paying the bills since he’s done this a lot. 

“Christopher asked if it was okay he leave the buckets here overnight, and I told him we didn’t mind.”

“Sure I don’t mind. We can leave the window open so it can get rid of the strong paint smell.” 

“Good idea. I’ll open it when I go to bed tonight. Why don’t I get started on grading the tests?”

“Sure. At least it’ll give you something to work on.”

Scott set the table as he asked, “When do you plan on coming back? You do seem sounding and looking like normal.”

“I think the day after tomorrow.”


	12. Chapter 12

Within the next day or so, Alan went back to his job since he felt a lot better. When he was on his last day, he spent most of the day grading his students’ tests. He already told Scott not to bother passing the tests back to the kids since he was planning to do it himself. Scott didn’t seem to care one way or another.

While he was ill with that cold, Alan had a chance to check his fanfiction account. The last time he was there in the early summer, he had several reviews, favorite author/author alert, favorite story/story follow, and, of course, private messages. He had somehow found the time to check his stories and answer the private messages, but he didn’t answer everyone.

He was happy that he found the time while ill with the cold that he was able to finish his latest story. The latest one he had just finished, it received over three hundred comments, seven hundred favorite story, four hundred story followers. Since this past summer, he was able to pick up about fifty – seven new fans who added him to their favorites.

Alan was able to arrive to Jefferson High twenty minutes before the kids arrived to wait to take their seas. As usual, he always had managed to arrive several minutes before the bell rang for the first class of the day. He’d thought to himself to arrive on time, but he knew this as a fact that even teachers aren’t always punctual.

While unlocking 237, Alan didn’t seem to have any students waiting for him. He decided to settle down to have some time alone until his class arrived. He sighed, happy to see Scott left his classroom the way it was while he was out sick. He’d given several of the kids As, Bs, and Cs, but hardly any of them had received any Ds or Fs.

While waiting for the bell to ring and his class to arrive, he was happy to see that he had a chance to sort the papers out to straighten them so they would be neat when he passed the papers back. The bell was going to ring in a few minutes. He was happy he didn’t stay in bed today since his sniffles weren’t bad as they were when they first arrived.

He sneezed three time once a few of his students walked in to take their seats. They sure were surprised to see their Elvis Presley teacher was able to come back. A girl, who was almost seventeen, had blonde hair, light – brown eyes, braces on her teeth, a purple backpack, books in her hands, wore matching pants and T – shirt to match her backpack. Even the shoes and socks matched as well.

“Welcome back, Mr. Presley,” she told him.

He blew his nose and threw the Kleenex in the trash before answering. He gave her his best eye contact.

“Thank you, Miraim. It does feel good to be back,’ he said as the rest of the class arrived and the bell rang. Alan stayed by the now aged blackboard as he normally did.

“Good morning, Class. To start off for today, I am going to hand over your tests.”

He heard several moans and groans. As any teacher, he was used to hearing their complaints.

“Class, I did get a very good comment about you from your subsititute. I’d like to thank you all for respecting him,” Alan said as he handed over the now graded tests. 

Of course, his class had Scott a few times, so they did know he and Alan were brothers.

Alan reached out for another tissue as the papers were being spread around.

“He did mention you two were painting your house,” Miriam spoke up a second time.

“He did, huh? He’s right that we are working on the house. It looked it deserved to have a new, fresh look since it hadn’t been updated in a while.”

“While on the subject, Mr. Presley didn’t say what you have for the new look,” a sixteen – year – old boy said.

The boy had a baseball cap on.

“Excuse me, Brian, I’d appreciate it if you could take off your cap off in the classroom. I don’t allow students to wear hats around me. I have found this disrespectful. You should know how many times I have asked you to do this.”

“Yes, sir,” Brian said as he did what Alan had told him to do.

The school day went quickly. Alan arrived back at the house at his usual time.


	13. Chapter 13

When Alan arrived home, Scott was in the kitchen, setting the plates and silverware. He had made hamburger helper for that night’s meal. Sure, hamburger helper was easy to do. Scott also had heated the frozen fruits and vegetables that were in the freezer. He nor Scott were big fans of ketchup on every meal like some people were but they found it awful to try it but it was not their style. Scott looked in Alan’s direction once he walked into the kitchen. 

“Hi, Alan. The kids surprised to see you back, huh?” 

“Yeah, they were. They mentioned you told them we were painting the house.”

“I did tell them that just for conversation that did not have anything to do with English class. I planned on giving them an assignment to write about their house and describe what the paint was like.”

“Good idea. When are the papers due?” Alan asked.

“Tomorrow, I told them.”

“Want me to bring the papers here tomorrow night and we can skim through them together?” 

“I’d be happy to help,” Scott said as he finished putting the bowls of fruit and vegetables on the table. 

Once Alan put his things away, he and Scott said a prayer. They usually did this every night. It was rude to eat before you said grace. Tonight was Scott’s turn to say grace.

“Heavenly Father, thank You for helping Alan recover from his cold and return to his job today. Thank You for this meal I have cooked. Also thank You for guiding me through Alan’s sick period to the class he taught and helping Christopher with painting the new fresh look on our house. We hope to appreciate Christopher as a friend in near future and use him again. I also would like to thank my friend from the public library, Carla Sanchez for recommending such a good painter we could use for the house. Please look after the sick, poor, family, friends, spiritual leaders, the President, the Royal family in England, sports teams, and the churches that are struggling. In Your Name, Amen,” Scott said as he and Alan opened their eyes and unfolded their hands from their laps.

“That was a nice one, bro.”

“Your turn to come with something tomorrow,” Scott said.

“Your turn to come with something tomorrow,” Scott said.

They usually did a different prayer and never did use the same one before eating a meal like most people did. The two brothers ate in silence the entire meal. Alan wanted to settle down after he and Scott cleared the table. Scott usually cleaned the dishes, pots and pans while Alan did other things around their house on his free time. He and Scott were never big fans of going on the Internet since they have always kept busy.

The next morning arrived. It was Friday, so Alan had all weekend to grade the kids’ papers that Scott had assigned them to. He did think it was a good idea of the assignment Scott had told him about. This should be interesting, he thought. He made it to the classroom ten minutes before first hour of the day’s bell began to ring. He always wanted to be available for the students if they wanted to wait for him when he actually wasn’t there. He thought it made sense to arrive on time so he wouldn’t make the kids wait for five or so minutes. He was happy he did make it on time today as usual. While waiting for the bell, he wrote some stuff down on the board instead of waiting when he and the class were talking. Somehow today seemed to go a bit too fast for him to teach his class.

While he was in school, Scott was talking with Christopher.

“Do you think you’re almost finished?” Scott asked him.

“I think today’s my last day, Mr. Presley,” Christopher said.

“Please, call me Scott.”

“Sorry about that. I’ve been taught from my parents if you’re doing a job like this, you have to be professional – like and call the clients by their last name and not their first.”

“That makes sense. Nobody taught me that growing up. My parents were too busy with one another and they weren’t around me and my brother very much, is what I’ve been told. Sorry if I gave out a bit personal information.”

“That’s all right.”

Chris was finished around lunchtime.

“How does this look to you?” Chris asked once he peeked into the kitchen, where Scott was making a hamburger on the stove.

“Let me see it first. I’m almost done cooking my lunch. You want to join me?” he asked.

“I’d better not. I got a new job out in town by the public library to paint there when I’m finished with this place.”

“When do you start?” Scott asked with curiosity.

“This afternoon around twelve – thirty.”

“You’ve been busy.”

“I know. I’m supposed to be that way.”

“That makes sense,” Scott said once the hamburger was through. 

He let it cool off a bit on a plate and followed Chris to the office.

He peeked in and liked what he saw.

“It looks good,” Scott said with compliment.

“Thank you.”

Christopher gave Scott the amount of the job he’d done. Scott wrote out a check of the amount he was told and ripped the check out of the checkbook. Chris thanked him and left the house.

Later that night, Scott showed Alan the office. Alan also liked what he saw.

“Is he finished?” Alan asked.

“Yes. He had a new job to do this afternoon,” Scott said.

“I guess your library friend made a good recommendation. Tell her I said that.”

“I will.” 

The next day, Scott went to the public library to return a few books he checked out earlier. He wanted to pick up some new books and see if the library had them today. Carla was in her usual place behind the computer when he went to check the books out.

“Christopher finished the house yesterday,” Scott said in whisper.

“How did he do?” she asked.

“Good. My brother and I wanted to thank you for giving a good recommendation.”

“Glad you liked him. I’ll tell him that next time I chat with him.”

He got the receipt she handed him.

“Two weeks from tomorrow,” Carla told him.

“Thank you. I hope to see you then. You should come over to my house sometime and see what a good job your friend did.” 

“I was thinking of that. See you next time,” she said and watched him leave.

She was happy he and Alan liked her recommendation. She hoped this would work in near future.


End file.
